It is the 15th edition starting at Le stade de France in St Denis, near Paris, on 10th June to finish on 10th July.

The opening match ( le match d’ouverture) is between la France et la Roumanie at le stade de France like for the final match ( le match de clôture).
24 teams (24 équipes) are playing this time with countries which have never played before in this competition, like l’Islande, l’Albanie, la Slovaquie, le Pays de Galles ( Wales) and l’Irlande du nord.
Some countries did not qualify like les Pays Bas et la Grèce for instance when, in fact, they had done well in previous years.

The competition is made of five rounds:

  1. Le 1er tour : 1st round
  2. les huitièmes de finale: the round of 16
  3. les quarts de finale: the quarter finals
  4. les demi-finales: the semi finals
  5. la finale: the final

The matches are taking place all over France, from Lille to Bordeaux to Marseille and St Etienne to name just a few.
Some “fans zones” on big squares ( des grandes places) have giant screens ( des écrans géants)  broadcasting the matches live ( en direct), they should attract big crowds.
To all lovers of football: Have fun! Amusez-vous bien!

Don’t let this stop you from joining our French intensive courses, for more info…

Since I wrote the blog on Friday, some violent incidents have taken place between supporters and some are now in hospital, I wish them a good recovery and hope that the violence will stop.
Souhaitons un Euro 2016 où seul l’esprit de compétition est en jeu!